Custom guitar makers

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beaverbiscuit

New member
Hey y'all, I did a search for some info on makers of custom or boutique guitars. Though I found some interesting discussions, I didn't really find what I was seeking.

I'm trying to find websites for as many luthiers as possible, mostly for comparison purposes. The two main sources I have so far are Driskill Guitars (www.driskillguitars.com) and Ed Roman's site that features a number of custom axes. His Quicksilver looks impressive and is my current front-runner, but Indiana's quite a trip from the east coast.

Anyone have any good info on the subject? BTW, I'm not looking for anything about assembly companies such as Warmoth. Although I'm sure their products are fine, I'm much more interested in a guitar that I don't have to assemble myself.

Thanks in advance for the input, y'all. :D :D :D
 
Links of the Guitar Gods

How's this for starters?? :D


www.mimf.com

www.luth.org

www.luth.org/hot.htm

www.guitarmaker.org

www.guitarmaker.org/MembersLinks/members.html

www.manzer.com (picture follows)

08.m294.jpg


www.leachguitars.com

www.hussanddalton.com (picture follows)

JPEG9.jpg



www.13thfret.com/luthiers.shtml

http://www.kleinguitars.com/ (picture follows)

hedgesb.jpg


:cool:
 
What kind of guitar are you looking for?
Acoustic guitar and Vintage Guitar magazines usually have private makers in their classified section.
 
Y'all rock!

Thanks for the bodacious replies. I didn't specify, but to answer John LaGreca's question I'm looking for electric solidbody guitars. This info should keep me busy for a bit. Thanks again, everyone!
 
beaverbiscuit you trully want a great guitar there are alot of opionions out there on what one could or should buy

If its something intresting you want try this guy in france he is very cool indeed his specialty is Crestwood deluxe replicas i myself own an original 1964 crestwood deluxe and currently have one of his guitars on order the guys name is Roger Dauget and he is one decent guy to deal with his prices also considering what he does are very very reasonable indeed drop him aline iam sure he can come up with the goods

http://www.daguetguitars.com/index.htm
 
trebles said:
beaverbiscuit you trully want a great guitar there are alot of opionions out there on what one could or should buy

If its something intresting you want try this guy in france he is very cool indeed his specialty is Crestwood deluxe replicas i myself own an original 1964 crestwood deluxe and currently have one of his guitars on order the guys name is Roger Dauget and he is one decent guy to deal with his prices also considering what he does are very very reasonable indeed drop him aline iam sure he can come up with the goods

http://www.daguetguitars.com/index.htm
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info, trebles. I've seen the Daguet site before; the only guitar there that appeals to me is the Proto Birdman, but I don't think I'd really consider it in the long run. It looks well-built and all, but it's scaled like a Gibson and has a Bigsby vibrato. Plus I don't really know anything about the SD mini pickups, and unfortunately their Sound Gallery page is under construction. So Daguet's probably not going to make my short list. However, if I ever had a chance to play one, and if I could get them to ditch the Bigsby in favor of a stop bridge, I might change my mind. Who knows, eh? ;)
 
(This quote is from trebles; it ended up in another thread about guitar sounds, so I copied it here.)

beaverbiscuit

Dauget will build for you any of his guitars to your spec essp if you want to do something quite simple as specify a different bridge or pickup configuration.

i dont want to try and convince you i just wish you knew what i know about his guitars then you too would be crowing as i do about this french luthiers master works.

Ive been collecting and playing guitars for well over 15 years now i know no one on the net out there who will sell you a better made guitar at a price i know no one can match

do yourself the favour i would not recomend anyones guitars had i not know their history this guy is one of those rare finds he is in this for the love of it the money he makes just about covers materials and then he just gets by as it is

there is nothiing inferior about this mans work cutting corners is not a part of what he does its 100% quality all the way but in the end you got to know this and believe this before your going to part with your money point taken

anyway email him and see what he says you will never know unless you talk to him


one aother thing to add a bigbsy b5 set up right is awesome why would you want anything else this rogers guitars hold tune no problems there im awaiting delivery as we speak of one of his crestwood deluxe replicas


http://www.daguetguitars.com/index.htm
Click to expand...
I appreciate your dedication to Daguet guitars, trebles. It's obvious you're enthusiastic about them. But do they have a distributor here in America? I'm not willing to buy without playing, so they would have to have a dealership here in the States for me to consider buying one. But I'll take your advice about emailing him; seems like a good idea.

BTW, I don't personally have anything against Bigsby vibratos. I'm sure they are fine. I just would like to have a guitar that doesn't have any vibrato at all.

See ya!
 
How do you feel about maybe making one yourself? I have dabbled a bit with slapping a few guitars together to incorporate some of the features that I was interested in. I've picked up bodies or beat-to-shit guitars and done some reshaping. Refurbished a few for friends. If nothing else its a lot of fun, and really instills a special pride in playing that particular guitar.
Right now my favorite guitar is one I mostly made. I had Carvin custom make me the neck. Maple neck..... birdseye maple fingerboard. I'm not set up to make a decent neck, but the rest of the guitar was not too hard. Picked up a Generic Alder strat style, reshaped it to fit tiny me, and stained it all purdy.
 
beaverbiscuit


Geez i must have been tired when posting that last post essp if i posted it in the wrong place apologies beaverbiscuit

:o

im not too sure who he has in the states but i will tellyou this iam that dedicated to his product im taking delivery of one of his guitars and in my spare time will be showing it around the shops out here also to other intrested parties to drum up sales for him

Whats my take in all this well he built me one of his masterworks at cost in exchange i offered to allow people to play his guitar where ever i went and then send the people directly to him via email thats the honest truth of the whole story.

Yes iam paying him for only his material costs and im supplying him tuners and pickups etc so Roger can finish off the guitar i will pay shipping and insurance costs to australia and then Roger will donate his time and efforts to this project as his half of the bargain.

when i have this guitar i will as i said promote his skills and lets hope rogerrns this intrest into sales he aint a giant company just a familyman trying to make a living

Roger has an engineering background and this shows in his dead on accuracy in his work Anumber of bands already play his guitars read his testaments page on his site amoung the converted are a band by the name of the Helicopters anyway good luck and i really hope you trust me on this one i realise you feel it may be a risk with many others id say treat carefully with roger theres no questions the guy is a class act
 
Even — While I sorta like the idea of making/assembling my own axe, I don't have the time or patience for a project like that. And to be honest, I'm not very good when it comes to building or repairing. But maybe someday I'll take a stab at putting together my own guitar, who knows?

BTW, why Carvin for the neck? I haven't looked at their site in ages, so I don't remember anything specific about their necks or how they are built. And how difficult was it to reshape the body and stain it?

trebles — No apology necessary, dude. I've done the same thing myself. :D

Sounds like Roger Daguet has gone above and beyond to work with you on your guitar. Very impressive, indeed. Like I said before, I'll fire off an email to him sometime soon.

Cheers, fellas!
 
Hey there Beaver. I picked Carvin for the neck for a couple reasons. Their customer service came in to play in one reguard. They do a whole lot of custom shop stuff, their boys are very professional, and they really try to make us happy. That and I am 30 minutes from their main factory gave me the comfort in knowing that any headaches could be remedied simply with a trip or face to face discussion. I really like the feel of their necks. Pretty nice radius for my lil hands. I like the headstock more than most any I have seen or used. I dont mean that so much in the appearance..... because I could have reshaped any ol headstock, but in the angles. The holes are drilled as such that they line up almost perfectly inline with the nut. No radical string angles \\\ /// that place alot of nut tension to encourage breaking. All that and the fact that they offer the particulars in custom making with the materials I want (inlay, fret width, birdseye maple) without tacking on heaps of cash for every yes or no.

Reshaping the body was no effort at all. Alder is pretty solid and has tight grain throughout, so I didnt really sweat too bad worrying I was going to uncover shitty grain or jeapordize the strength. My ambition was mainly to thin down and round off the edges to fit my tiny self. I was actually pretty excited about the whole staining enterprise... I used a tinted gel. Turned out a little darker than I was hoping, but looks pretty impressive in the direct light.
 
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